ST. PORPHYRIUS, BISHOP OF GAZA, CONFESSOR

From his life, written with great accuracy by his
faithful disciple Mark. See Fleury. t. 5 Tillemont, t. 10 Chatelain,
p. 777. In the king’s library at Paris is a Greek MS. life of
St. Porphyrius, (abridged from that of Mark,) which has never been
translated.

A. D. 420.

PORPHYRIUS, a native of Thessalonica in Macedonia,
was of a noble and wealthy family. The desire of renouncing the world
made him leave his friends and country at twenty-five years of age,
in 378, to pass into Egypt, where he consecrated himself to God in a
famous monastery in the desert of Sceté. After five years
spent there in the penitential exercises of a monastic life, he went
into Palestine to visit the holy places of Jerusalem. After this he
took up his abode in a cave near the Jordan, where he passed other
five years in great austerity, till he fell sick, when a complication
of disorders obliged him to leave that place and return to Jerusalem.
There he never failed daily to visit devoutly all the holy places,
leaning on a staff, for he was too weak to stand upright. It happened
about the same time that Mark, an Asiatic, and the author of his
life, came to Jerusalem with the same intent, where he made some
stay. He was much edified at the devotion with which Porphyrius
continually visited the place of our Lord’s resurrection, and
the other oratories. And seeing him one day labor with great pain in
getting up the stairs in the chapel built by Constantine, he ran to
him to offer him his assistance, which Porphyrius refused, saying:
“It is not just that I who am come hither to beg pardon for my
sins, should be eased by any one: rather let me undergo some labor
and inconvenience that God, beholding it, may have compassion on me.”
He, in this condition, never omitted his usual visits of piety to the
holy places, and daily partook of the mystical table, that is, of the
holy sacrament. And as to his distemper, so much did he contemn it,
that he seemed to be sick in another’s body and not in his own.
His confidence in God always supported him. The only thing which
afflicted him was, that his fortune had not been sold before this for
the use of the poor. This he commissioned Mark to do for him, who
accordingly set out for Thessalonica, and in three months’ time
returned to Jerusalem with money and effects to the value of four
thousand five hundred pieces of gold. When the blessed man saw him,
he embraced him with tears of joy for his safe and speedy return. But
Porphyrius was now so well recovered, that Mark scarce knew him to be
the same person: for his body had no signs of its former decay, and
his face looked full, fresh, and painted with a healthy red. He,
perceiving his friend’s amazement at his healthy looks, said to
him with a smile, “Be not surprised, Mark, to see me in perfect
health and strength, but admire the unspeakable goodness of Christ,
who can easily cure what is despaired of by men.” Mark asked
him by what means he had recovered. He replied: “Forty days
ago, being in extreme pain, I made a shift to reach Mount Calvary,
where, fainting away, I fell into a kind of trance or ecstasy, during
which I seemed to see our Saviour on the cross, and the good thief in
the same condition near him. I said to Christ, Lord, Remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom: whereupon he ordered the thief
to come to my assistance, who, raising me off the ground on which I
lay, bade me go to Christ. I ran to him, and he, coming off his
cross, said to me: Take this wood (meaning his cross) into
thy custody In obedience to him, methought I laid it on my
shoulders, and carried it some way. I awaked soon after, and have
been free from pain ever since, and without the least appearance of
my having ever ailed any thing.” Mark was so edified with the
holy man’s discourse and good example, that he became more
penetrated with esteem and affection for him than ever, which made
him desirous of living always with him in order to his own
improvement; for he seemed to have attained to a perfect mastery over
all his passions: he was endued at the same time with a divine
prudence an eminent spirit of prayer, and the gift of tears. Being
also well versed in the holy scriptures and spiritual knowledge, and
no stranger to profane learning, he confounded all the infidels and
heretics who attempted to dispute with him. As to the money and
effects which Mark had brought him, he distributed all among the
necessitous in Palestine and Egypt, so that, in a very short time, he
had reduced himself to the necessity of laboring for his daily food.
He therefore learned to make shoes and dress leather, while Mark,
being well skilled in writing, got a handsome livelihood by copying
books, and to spare. He therefore desired the saint to partake of his
earnings. But Porphyrius replied, in the words of St. Paul He that
doth not work let him not eat. He led this laborious and
penitential life till he was forty years of age, when the bishop of
Jerusalem ordained him priest, though much against his will, and
committed to him the keeping of the holy cross: this was in 393. The
saint changed nothing in his austere penitential life, feeding only
upon roots and the coarsest bread, and not eating till after sunset,
except on Sundays and holidays, when he ate at noon, and added a
little oil and cheese; and on account of a great weakness of stomach,
he mingled a very small quantity of wine in the water he drank. This
was his method of living till his death. Being elected bishop of
Gaza, in 396, John, the metropolitan and archbishop of Cæsarea,
wrote to the patriarch of Jerusalem to desire him to send over
Porphyrius, that he might consult him on certain difficult passages
of scripture. He was sent accordingly, but charged to be back in
seven days. Porphyrius, receiving this order, seemed at first
disturbed, but said: “God’s will be done.” That
evening he called Mark, and said to him: “Brother Mark, let us
go and venerate the holy places and the sacred cross, for it will be
long before we shall do it again.” Mark asked him why he said
so. He answered: Our Saviour had appeared to him the night before,
and said: “Give up the treasure of the cross which you have in
custody, for I will marry you to a wife, poor indeed and despicable,
but of great piety and virtue. Take care to adorn her well; for,
however contemptible she may appear, she is my sister.” “This,”
said he, “Christ signified to me last night: and I fear, in
consequence, my being charged with the sins of others, while I labor
to expiate my own; but the will of God must be obeyed.” When
they had venerated the holy places and the sacred cross, and
Porphyrius had prayed long before it, and with many tears, he shut up
the cross in its golden case, and delivered the keys to the bishop;
and having obtained his blessing, he and his disciple Mark set out
the next day, with three others, among whom was one Barochas, a
person whom the saint had found lying in the street almost dead, and
had taken care of, cured, and instructed; who ever after served him
with Mark. They arrived the next day, which was Saturday, at Cæsarea.
The archbishop obliged them to sup with him. After spiritual
discourses they took a little sleep, and then rose to assist at the
night service. Next morning the archbishop bid the Gazæans lay
hold on St. Porphyrius, and, while they held him, ordained him
bishop. The holy man wept bitterly, and was inconsolable for being
promoted to a dignity he judged himself so unfit for. The Gazæans,
however, performed their part in endeavoring to comfort him, and,
having assisted at the Sunday office, and stayed one day more at
Cæsarea, they set out for Gaza, lay at Diospolis, and, late on
Wednesday night, arrived at Gaza, much harassed and fatigued. For the
heathens living in the villages near Gaza, having notice of their
coming, had so damaged the roads in several places, and clogged them
with thorns and logs of wood, that they were scarce passable. They
also contrived to raise such a smoke and stench, that the holy men
were in danger of being blinded or suffocated.

There happened that year a very great drought,
which the pagans ascribed to the coming of the new Christian bishop,
saying that their god Marnas had foretold that Porphyrius would bring
public calamities and disasters on their city. In Gaza stood a famous
temple of that idol, which the emperor Theodosius the Elder had
commanded to be shut up, but not demolished, on account of its
beautiful structure. The governor afterwards had permitted the
heathens to open it again. As no rain fell the two first months after
St. Porphyrius’s arrival, the idolaters, in great affliction,
assembled in this temple to offer sacrifices, and make supplications
to their god Marnas, whom they called the Lord of rains. These they
repeated for seven days, going also to a place of prayer out of the
town; but seeing all their endeavors ineffectual, they lost all hopes
of a supply of what they so much wanted. A dearth ensuing, the
Christians, to the number of two hundred and eighty, women and
children included, after a day’s fast, and watching the
following night in prayer, by the order of their holy bishop, went
out in procession to St. Timothy’s church, in which lay the
relics of the holy martyr St. Meuris, and of the confessor St. Thees,
singing hymns of divine praise. But at their return to the city they
found the gates shut against them, which the heathens refused to
open. In this situation the Christians, and St. Porphyrius above the
rest, addressed almighty God with redoubled fervor for the blessing
so much wanted; when in a short time, the clouds gathering, as at the
prayers of Elias, there fell such a quantity of rain that the
heathens opened their gates, and, joining them, cried out: ‘Christ
alone is God: He alone has overcome.” They accompanied the
Christians to the church to thank God for the benefit received, which
was attended with the conversion of one hundred and seventy-six
persons, whom the saint instructed, baptized, and confirmed, as he
did one hundred and five more before the end of that year. The
miraculous preservation of the life of a pagan woman in labor, who
had been despaired of, occasioned the conversion of that family and
others, to the number of sixty-four.

The heathens, perceiving their number decrease,
grew very troublesome to the Christians, whom they excluded from
commerce and all public offices, and injured them all manner of ways.
St. Porphyrius, to screen himself and his flock from their outrages
and vexations, had recourse to the emperor’s protection. On
this errand he sent Mark, his disciple, to Constantinople, and went
afterwards himself in company with John, his metropolitan, archbishop
of Cæsarea. Here they applied themselves to St. John
Chrysostom, who joyfully received them, and recommended them to the
eunuch Amantius, who had great credit with the empress, and was a
zealous servant of God. Amantius having introduced them to the
empress, she received them with great distinction, assured them of
her protection, and begged their prayers for her safe delivery, a
favor she received a few days after. She desired them in another
visit to sign her and her newborn son, Theodosius the Younger, with
the sign of the cross, which they did. The young prince was baptized
with great solemnity, and on that occasion the empress obtained from
the emperor all that the bishops had requested, and in particular
that the temples of Gaza should be demolished; an imperial edict
being drawn up for this purpose and delivered to Cynegius, a virtuous
patrician, and one full of zeal, to see it executed. They stayed at
Constantinople during the feast of Easter, and at their departure the
emperor and empress bestowed on them great presents. When they landed
in Palestine, near Gaza, the Christians came out to meet them with a
cross carried before them, singing hymns. In the place called
Tetramphodos, or Four-ways-end, stood a marble statue of Venus, on a
marble altar, which was in great reputation for giving oracles to
young women about the choice of husbands, but had often grossly
deceived them, engaging them in most unhappy marriages; so that many
heathens detested its lying impostures. As the two bishops, with the
procession of the Christians, and the cross borne before them, passed
through that square, this idol fell down of itself, and was broken to
pieces: whereupon thirty-two men and seven women were converted.

Ten days after arrived Cynegius, having with him a
consiuar man and a duke, or general, with a strong guard of soldiers,
besides the civil magistrates of the country. He assembled the
citizens and read to them the emperor’s edict, commanding their
idols and temples to be destroyed, which was accordingly executed,
and no less than eight public temples in the city were burnt; namely,
those of the Sun, Venus, Apollo, Proserpine, Hecate, the Hierion, or
of the priests, Tycheon, or of Fortune, and Marnion of Marnas, their
Jupiter. The Marnion, in which men had been often sacrificed, burned
for many days. After this, the private houses and courts were all
searched; the idols were everywhere burned or thrown into the common
sewers, and all books of magic and superstition were cast into the
flames. Many idolaters desired baptism; but the saint took a long
time to make trial of them, and to prepare them for that sacrament by
daily instructions. On the spot where the temple of Marnas had stood,
was built the church of Eudoxia in the figure of a cross. She sent
for this purpose precious pillars and rich marble from
Constantinople. Of the marble taken out of the Marnion, St.
Porphyrius made steps and a road to the church, that it might be
trampled upon by men, dogs, swine, and other beasts whence many
heathens would never walk thereon. Before he would suffer the church
to be begun, he proclaimed a fast, and the next morning, being
attended by his clergy and all the Christians in the city, they went
in a body to the place from the church Irene, singing the Venite
exultemus Domino, and other psalms, and answering to every verse
Alleluia, Barochas carrying a cross before them. They all set to
work, carrying stones and other materials, and digging the
foundations according to the plan marked out and directed by Rufinus,
a celebrated architect, singing psalms and saying prayers during
their work. It was begun in 403, when thirty high pillars arrived
from Constantinople, two of which, called Carostiæ, shone like
emeralds when placed in the church. It was five years a building, and
when finished in 408, the holy bishop performed the consecration of
it on Easter-Day with the greatest pomp and solemnity. His alms to
the poor on that occasion seemed boundless, though they were always
exceeding great. The good bishop spent the remainder of his life in
the zealous discharge of all pastoral duties; and though he lived to
see the city clear for the most part of the remains of paganism,
superstition, and idolatry, he had always enough to suffer from such
as continued obstinate in their errors Falling sick, he made his
pious will, in which he recommended all his deal flock to God. He
died in 420, being about sixty years of age, on the 26th of February,
on which day both the Greeks and Latins make mention of him. The
pious author of his life concludes it, saying: “He is now in
the paradise of delight, interceding for us with all the saints, by
whose prayers may God have mercy on us.”